I sat under the table in my small apartment as the ground shook, the windows rattled, and my stomach turned somersaults. It was one month to the day after the 1994 Northridge, CA earthquake, and although the aftershocks had significantly died down by that point, they were still occurring unexpectedly every now and then, just to make my life even more miserable than it was. It was also the start of Lent, a time I knew I should be more deeply... Read more
I would give anything to have to a man’s dirty clothes left on the floor to pick up! A friend of mine who’d been divorced several years had that reaction to an episode of “Everybody Loves Raymond“, in which the character, Deborah, calls her husband, Raymond, an idiot as she picks his underwear up off the floor. I can’t stand wives that don’t appreciate their husbands… you never know what you have until you don’t have it anymore! my friend... Read more
When I went through my divorce, I was childless and frankly, I considered that to be an insult to injury. I thought that at least having a child to love and care for would make it easier to bear the pain of the loss of my marriage. Maybe in some respects, that’s true, but over the years I’ve come to realize that being a single, divorced parent has got to be one of the heaviest crosses to carry. I’ve heard stories... Read more
There is the love of the sinful woman, who humbles herself before the Lord; but first there is the merciful love of Jesus for her, which pushes her to approach. Her cry of repentance and joy washes the feet of the Master, and her hair dries them with gratitude… and she adores Jesus because she feels that in Him there is mercy and not condemnation. Thanks to Jesus, God casts her many sins away behind Him, He remembers them no... Read more
Between the Extraordinary Synod on the Family in October 2014 and the closing of the ordinary Synod in October 2015, there was an unusual phenomenon witnessed in my opinion, and that was the outcry of so many divorced and civilly-remarried Catholics vying for attention to their cause and leniency in their personal situations with regard to receiving the sacraments. With all the hype in the media, this was difficult to ignore, but I thought it was curious that with all the... Read more
It was late, and I really needed to go to bed, but I just couldn’t break away from the shocking, scandalous words I was reading. I was in the process of packing my apartment on this late evening when I happened upon this book that I could not put down. It was snowing heavily outside, which meant I would need to be up extra early to shovel and scrape my way out of the snow heap my car would become... Read more
We are ankle-deep in the Lenten season, and if you are divorced, you may be having a difficult time getting your feet wet because of the “sacrificial” element of Lent. It’s easy to look at the circumstances of your life and say, I’m already sacrificing enough! Everyday without my spouse, every day having to bear the pain and hardships that come from being divorced should be enough suffering for everyone! Maybe you’ve lost your children in the court battle, your... Read more
It was 1995, I was an emotional wreck because of my divorce, and I was about to tell a priest I really liked that he was completely out of his mind. It had been three years since my divorce and I just couldn’t seem to move past the intense pain. I had tried dating and new relationships to kind of snap me out of my funk, but I felt only more hurt, and definitely not healed. A friend referred me to Father... Read more
Does your divorce have you feeling like you’re barely keeping your head above water? Could you use some support in staying afloat? Well, I have two great “life preservers” to tell you about that can help you find that support and make all the difference. First: there is something special for all the moms out there who are raising their kids alone and trying to heal from divorce. It’s an online conference for Catholic moms titled, The Faces of Mercy, that... Read more
I may be divorced, but I still believe in marriage. I want to find someone to spend my life with, but first, I have to find myself again. These are words from a very wise woman. Her divorce had been quite difficult for her and her children, especially because she married with the desire and intention to grow old with her spouse. Many Catholics today find themselves in this exact position and hope to remarry again. But is jumping back into... Read more
Lisa Duffy: A Million Unheard Souls
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